Barracudas - CHAMPS Meet this Saturday
Hey Barracudas!
It’s Championship weekend, let’s FINish strong! We will be at the Round Rock ISD Aquatic Center for our end of season Champs meet swimming against all the teams in the league. This meet will have the popular rainbow heat winner ribbons! And medals (to 20th place!) instead of ribbons for place awards. It’s a bit of a drive, but it gives us a fantastic INDOOR pool that can host all the teams in the league together for the ultimate competition and should be an exciting end to the summer swim season. Chomp Chomp Chomp!
The meet will be held at the RRISD Aquatics Center (2801 Gattis School Rd, Round Rock, TX 78664). Please use your favorite map app and plan your trip time to get your swimmer to check-in on time and make sure you’re not late for relay check-in or that second-to-last volunteer shift of the season. The meet timeline, heat sheet, psych sheet and other information are also found on our website under Swim Meets and Events: https://www.bcwbarracudas.com/swim_meets
We’ve got a lot of information to pack in here, so to paraphrase Jerry McGuire, “help us… help you.” Here we go:
- Volunteers
- Arrival / Setup / Timeline
- Notes on Relays & Possible Parent/Coach Relay
- What to Bring
- Heat Sheet
- Marking Up Swimmers
- Where to Park
- Where to Watch
- How to keep up online
- Cancellations/Scratches
- Reminders
First up, we need more volunteers: If you have not met your 4 point volunteer commitment, and your kid(s) are swimming at the meet, you are expected to volunteer. If you’ve already met your commitment (a) thank you!) and (b) please consider volunteering anyway as we need to fill the following roles in order to make the meet happen:
- 6&U girls AGP
- 9-10 girls AGP
- Meet Medals
- Ready Bench
- Setup/Takedown
- Timer
Remember you can share a shift with a spouse or friend if you can’t commit to being there the whole time!
Arrival / Where to Set Up
When you get there, come inside and look for the Barracuda tent to check in (athlete & volunteer check-in). We will have the athletes on the left side of the pool under their age group tents and the spectators on the right side. Parents who aren’t actively volunteering will be on the right side. There should be open-seating bleachers, standing spectator space, and room for chairs behind the bleachers. We ask that the area next to the competition pool be used for actively watching your swimmers and rotate out when done. When going from one side of the pool to the other, please go under the scoreboard and NOT behind the timers. The finish end of the pool is for timers and officials ONLY.
We have 5 teams there. Lots of swimmers are competing this week, so come marked up and ready to go! We will be going straight from warm-up to IM.
Be prepared for the heat! Bring water, stay hydrated. They have water fountains and the league will be selling water bottles. The food trucks will have an assortment of drinks.
An information document, including a facility map, is posted on the Swim Meets & Events schedule page next to the heat sheets. It offers information about timelines, food options (tacos, pizza, and kona ice), and facility rules.
Fin-ally, always remember that Barracudas swim faster when there are lots of cheering fans! Support your swimmers!!
Champs Meet Timeline
- Where: RRISD Aquatic Center: 2801 Gattis School Rd, Round Rock, TX 78664
- 9:00am Facility opens for athletes & families
- 9:30am - Warm-up - ALL TEAMS
- 10:00am - Anthem
- 10:05am - Meet start
- Estimated Meet completion: 3:00 pm +/- 15 minutes
- Coach / parent relays
- Awards
- Team Awards (top 3 get trophies!)
- Individual High Point (top 3 in each age group get trophies!)
- Records
- Cleanup - let’s please leave this place CLEAN! Stay and help out if possible and don’t forget to take away anything you brought with you!
NOTES ON RELAYS
Many families both new and returning have had questions about how relays work, and the link below should answer all your Barracuda relay-related questions. Any swimmer who has not personally SIGNED IN at Athlete Check-in table by 9:40 will be dropped from early relay teams. Relays get double points so we really don't want to have to scratch a relay! For more details, please carefully review the About Those Relays section on the website (scroll down from the top).
Parent/Coach Relay(s)
We will have an opportunity for parent and/or coach relay(s) at the end of the meet. If you are interested and can put together an entire team, please do so and email [email protected] to let us know. If you are interested but don’t have a full team, still email [email protected] to let us know! This will be a fun way to end the meet while we’re processing DQs and point totals for trophies!
What to Bring
First off, please make sure you label anything you bring.
- Team spirit and great attitude!
- Team suit!!! That’s our uniform!!! :)
- Towels to set down to claim your space and another one to dry off.
- Goggles and team swim cap if you use them. NO OTHER CLUB CAPS!
- Sunscreen, in case you end up outside.
- CASH or CARD for the food trucks.
- Food and/or snacks if you prefer to skip the food trucks.
- Leave your kickboards and fins at home. Those aren’t needed at meets.
- Shoes/flip flops.
- Lots of water/sports drinks and whatever else you need to stay cool.
Heat Sheet
The heat sheet is posted on our website here (they can always be found on the Swim Meets & Events calendar)! Please print this out for your benefit!
FYI: As changes come in, the linked file will sometimes be outdated but the Swimtopia app has the most current data. You may need to close the app and reopen to update the connection.
Marking up Swimmers
You can help the Age Group volunteers by writing their last name on their back and then on in order "event number-heat number-lane number" on their arm or shoulder so they can see what they are swimming. Directions here.
None of that is required, but it’s part of the experience for some, and helps them take ownership of when they’re swimming. Most importantly, make sure your swimmers know what strokes they are swimming!
Where to Park
There is lots of parking around the Cedar Ridge school campus. There is a drop off lane in front of the pool if you need to unload or stop to send your swimmer in. Be careful in the parking lot as people may be walking to the food trucks. Do NOT move any cones.
Where to Watch
There are bleachers available for seating on a first-come, first-served basis. They will be away from the competition pool.
You can set up chairs, coolers, and umbrellas behind the bleachers and spill out into the sidewalk and grass.
Parents and guests are welcome to stand and watch their swimmers during his/her individual races from vantage points along the spectator side of the pool (see diagram in meet flier), but then are requested to exit the area after their swimmers’ races to give space for other parents.
Keeping Up Online
Check out the Swimtopia mobile app in your phone’s app store. Some features are free, some do require a subscription similar to Meet Mobile. Assuming all goes well, we should have real-time meet status (current event/heat) and results in the app.
Cancellation/Scratches
If anything comes up this evening or early in the morning, please please please, email [email protected] with the details.
REMINDERS
- Swimmers should remain with their AGPs between races so they can be ready to go for each swim. Remind them to either be with their AGP or let the AGP know they are going to concessions or the restroom.
- End of Season Party - June 18th - RSVP - Our last event of the season is the End of Season Party next Wednesday. We will have water slides, dunk tanks, and fun time in the pool together as a team! We’ll have plenty of food and snacks to enjoy as well! Please let us know how many people in your family are coming on the Events page so we can order accordingly.
We’ll end this message with a quote from the Sandlot: “Winners get remembered, but legends never die.”
See you at the pool - 2025 Barracudas Volunteer Board of Directors